Chapter 357 – Bold Gambles (1/2)

Li Qingshan stared at her gentle face that differed dramatically from Han Qiongzhi’s and was left speechless for a moment. He felt rather proud of himself inside, yet also rather awkward. In the past, he could tease her a little over this, but it was not so easy now.

He thought to himself, Li Qingshan, oh Li Qingshan. Qiongzhi has just entered seclusion, so you can’t do anything that’ll let her down. As a result, he said a few things that could make Ru Xin give up on him.

“Don’t tell me you thought I was talking about you?!” The mischievous smile that Li Qingshan found familiar appeared on Ru Xin’s face.

“Of course not! Never!” Li Qingshan pried her hands away passive-aggressively. He eased up inside, yet he also felt slightly disappointed for some reason. He was unable to tell when she was telling the truth. Was it a joke earlier, or was she probing him?

Or, perhaps she really did have someone she liked, which was why she had never accepted confessions from any man in all these years. Was that man in the Mist province? Immediately, he imagined a savage man covered in tattoos and a blue piece of cloth, holding a child on the top of a mountain and gazing northward at the distant mother of his child…

He shuddered. Why did it seem rather familiar and rather comfortable to him too?

As he imagined that, Ru Xin had already moved away softly, closing the door and laying out the formation scroll, making all preparations for them to “commit adultery”. She moved around as lightly as a white ghost.

Looking at her graceful, gentle figure, she did not seem like she had given birth before at all. Li Qingshan nodded to that thought.

Ru Xin said, “Oi, what’s wrong with you? Did you end up shooting your brains out too last night? Give me the Blue Butterfly flowers!”

Li Qingshan felt like he had been struck by lightning. He was tongue-tied. Is this something you should say? Is this something you should say?

Ru Xin said in complete contempt, “It’s just some old business between a man and a woman, isn’t it? I know much more about it than you, little boy.”

Li Qingshan could not help but take a step back. He had heard how the female barbarians of the Mist province were extremely liberal in this aspect. He began to imagine a group of men covered in tattoos with white cloth on their heads standing on the top of a mountain, gazing northward.

As if she could read his mind, Ru Xin blushed slightly. She scolded, “What’re you thinking about? I’m a doctor!”

Li Qingshan made fun of her. “It’s not like I’ve said anything.”

Ru Xin’s expression stiffened. It was true. His thoughts had nothing to do with her. She directly took out the Crystal Resin cauldron. “Let’s stop messing around. I’ll show you the results of my research last night.”

Li Qingshan expressed his doubts. “Are you confident about success?”

“Of course.”

Ten hours later, the alchemy cauldron let out a muffled bang. The refinement process had ended in failure.

Faced with Li Qingshan’s contemptible gaze, Ru Xin tidied the hair on the side of her head, unperturbed. “Accident.”

“Do you want to continue?” Li Qingshn asked. The success rate had already fallen to twenty percent now.

Ru Xin became motivated too. “Of course! Let’s go with… one.”

Li Qingshan took out three Blue Butterfly flowers and handed them to her again. “Since you’re confident, let’s continue!”

The light in Ru Xin’s eyes flickered. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll destroy them again?”

“Just keep going. It’s not like it’s just my loss,” Li Qingshan said. He did not doubt the person he chose, nor was there any need to doubt her. There was probably no better choice than her within the entire academy.

“Then let’s go with five!” Ru Xin propped herself up and brought her left foot forward, now half-kneeling on the cushion. She rolled up her right sleeve, revealing her beautiful forearm and pressing it against the Crystal Resin cauldron. Like a female dealer in a casino, she pressed down on the dice cup boldly and called out, “Finalise your bets!”

Li Qingshan muttered female barbarian inside before handing five Blue Butterfly flowers to her. Afterwards, he stared fixedly at the Crystal Resin cauldron like a gambler who had just placed down a large bet, but he ran out of interest very soon. Instead, he began looking at Ru Xin. After he stared at her for a while, she shot a vicious glance at him.

He shifted his gaze and became bored again, so he just started meditating.

A night passed, and the sky lit up. The cauldron opened and crystalline light poured out.

Ru Xin took out five True Spirit pills and smiled. “Success!”

Li Qingshan also smiled in relief. “Do you want to continue?”

Ru Xin said, “Let’s continue!”

This time, they went with seven.

Alchemy did not become easier when batches were smaller. It was like cooking in the kitchen. If the portion was too small, then it would be extremely difficult to control the heat and taste, and it would waste a lot of time and energy too.

Of course, more was not necessarily better either. Dishes made from a communal pot would never taste better than those made in a small pot. It was fine if dishes tasted bad, but if pills “tasted bad” that would mean a drastic reduction in their effects, preventing them from achieving their intended effects.

The degree of control, the skill of the alchemist, and even the quality of the cauldron were all relevant. With Ru Xin’s ability, refining twelve True Spirit pills each time was perfect.

Under Li Qingshan’s liberal support, she reached this very soon, but it also meant a loss of a hundred thousand spiritual stones with each failure.